Wolves among men (12 page)

The large man charged me.
I tried the same move again. Nothing. I connected but he didn’t
budge. I suddenly became aware of the sharp pain in my hand as I
realized I hurt just about as much as if I had punched a boulder.
He grabbed my neck and plunged the knife into my stomach. The
searing pain was enough to make me forget where I was let alone
what continent I was on. I felt the blade cut through me. I felt
the heat as what I could only imagine was blood escaped my
body.

It’s funny the things your
mind thinks of when it has better things it could be doing, like
surviving. I remember feeling the blade again. It pierced through
me sending a bolt of white hot fire through me and the only thing I
could muster to think as I felt a wave of warmth running down my
side was, I need that.

I wished I would pass out,
I hoped I would die. At least then the pain would stop. As I said
before, I never was so lucky. I heard a growl from the other end of
the alley and before I had time to register what I was seeing, a
beast came charging at us. It was large and ran on two legs. Its
massive frame was somehow supported by its proportionally smaller
legs and I got a better look as it swung at the man that held the
handle of the knife that jutted out of my gut.

I fell to the ground as he
flew to the side. Another jolt of pain went through me as the blade
moved from the sudden shock. I heard a scream and a tear as the
monster turned on the smaller man in front of me. I closed my eyes,
I didn’t want to see him die but I couldn’t help hearing the
sickening gurgle that escaped his throat as he left this
world.

The beast walked toward me
as I pulled the knife out of my stomach slowly and painfully. I
threw it to the ground and locked eyes with the massive creature. I
wasn’t afraid. I couldn’t explain why but its eyes were kind. I
almost sensed that it was worried for me. Its face inched closer as
I winced, waiting for it to kill me to but it just sniffed. A
whimper escaped its throat.

“
Pl... please,” I begged
in barely more than a whisper “I- I don’t….I don’t want to d-
di-die.” I stuttered in fear and in pain. I knew it was pointless.
I was going to die here, this monster was going to kill me and
there was nothing I could do about it. To my surprise it just took
another sniff of the air, threw its head back and howled. It
sounded like it was sad or maybe in pain, I couldn’t really tell. I
heard sirens from a distance. Thank you God someone had called the
police. They would come, they would kill this beast and everything
would be okay.

The creature sniffed my
wound and looked back up at me. My mind blanked and all I could
hear was, You are dying. It wasn’t my thought. It was a woman’s
voice, a caring voice. I shook my head. I didn’t have time to make
sense of it. She was right. I was going to die.

“
I can save you,” I heard
the voice again. I was confused but nothing tonight made much sense
so what was the difference

“
I-I-I... D-d-don’t-” was
all I could muster. Before I could finish the thought another
searing pain swept through me and I heard a crunch as I felt my
shoulder rip from my body. I screamed and tried to pull away but it
was pointless, I didn’t have the strength.

The creature howled and
ran down the alley leaving me there alone as the sirens grew closer
with each second. Blood pooled around me and I felt reality slip
from my eyes as I heard the ambulance stop and the doors open
loudly.

I shot awake quickly as a scream
escaped my chest. My pulse raced, my breath was deep and it took a
moment before I could register where I was. The room was lit by the
sunlight that beamed in from the large double windows to the right
of me and the sound of a T.V quietly played in the background. I
sat up on the bed and rubbed my hands over my eyes. Cordillia
looked over at me from the other bed and to my surprise she was
calm.

“
Had another dream about
the attack?” she asked. I had forgotten that this wasn’t the first
time I woke up screaming. Ever since that night, the nightmares
became a normal occurrence. I nodded and took a moment before
shaking myself awake. I leaned over the side of the bed and quietly
grabbed my bag from the floor. I shuffled around until I found my
wallet, pulled out a twenty and handed it to Cordillia.

“
I need some time alone.”
I tried my best to muster a smile for her. “Why don’t you go have
some fun?” Her eyes lit up as she took the bill from my fingers and
jumped up from the bed.

“
You don’t have to ask me
twice.” She smirked as she turned off the TV. I laid back down as
she began to make her way out of the room. “You know,” She stopped
as she gripped the doors metal handle and turned to me. “They’re
just dreams, Ethan.” I nodded. “But I guess now I know how you
feel.” She met my eyes and nodded her head lightly before waving
goodbye, pulling the door open and leaving my with my thoughts as
it clicked shut behind her.

Chapter Nine

I had forgotten the voice that had
spoken so sweetly in my mind that night or perhaps it was never
there. I couldn’t really know for sure. The only thing I could be
sure of was that I wanted so desperately to understand why. Why did
it seem that everything that night lined up to make me what I am
now? Why couldn’t I just leave Cordillia in California where they
belonged?

That monster had taken everything from
me and just like it I had taken everything from Cordillia. The hate
in me grew and I cursed myself for doing this to her. I had taken
her chance to go to school, her chance for a normal life. Now as it
stood, I could never be sure she was safe. How could she protect
herself from something like me? I thought about the man from the
diner and I didn’t have a chance to stop myself as I felt the sharp
pain of my fist going through the bathroom door.

How could she protect herself from
something like him? I had to figure this out. I had to find a way
to keep her safe. It was the only way I would ever feel right
again. I pulled my hand from the hole that I had created, splinters
and fragments from the door fell to the floor at my feet. My
knuckles were bruised and there were signs of a break but I
couldn’t pull my eyes away as I watched the bruises turn from black
to purple, brown to yellow and within a few moments they were
healed. I would never get used to this, of that I was
sure.

Taking a quick shower, I hoped to wash
away the madness from my mind. I chuckled as I realized that any
normal person would have gone crazy by now but with everything
considered, I was feeling okay. It was funny that I was handling
being a werewolf on the run like someone would handle getting fired
from their job. It sucks but you get on with your life. You play
the hand you’re dealt with nothing more than the hope that it comes
out even.

Stepping out of the bathroom, I donned
a large blue towel and took a look through my bag. I had another
pair of jeans but only one T shirt left, it would have to do until
I had time to stop in town and pick up more. I thought about my
finances and realized that Robert was right. If I was going to make
this work and keep us fed, I needed to control the beast. If
nothing else, I couldn’t afford to keep exploding out of my
clothes.

Slipping on a fresh pair of jeans, I
resigned myself to the same black shirt I drove in with. If I had
time, I would get something else before we left to see Robert. I
owed the man a lot. It was the least I could do to show up looking
decent. I looked over at the bed that was seductively inviting me
to sleep but that thought turned sour as I remembered the dream
that woke me so violently. I pulled myself away and left the room
before it had a chance to try and change my mind.

I nearly ran down the large staircase
and moved toward the center of the room to join my sister. The
flirty desk clerk had left and I relaxed. A small dark haired man
sat behind the glass wall reading a magazine and for once it felt
nice not to be noticed.

Looking around the room quickly, I
walked toward her and noticed immediately that, well there wasn’t
all that much to notice. A few waitresses sat scattered around the
room looking bored to death. The bar was at best half full and the
only tables that had any patrons were a single black jack game and
a three man game of poker. The slot machines were pretty full, all
six of them with my sister manning the biggest in the
room.

I watched as she stared intently at
the large red machine, her eyes fixed into place as she bit her lip
and groaned with each loss. She pulled the arm down and I heard the
machine chime as it rolled a set of common pictures into place.
Cherries, pineapples and if you were lucky a row of big blue stars
but as it came to a grinding halt, she huffed and pulled another
coin from her pocket, sliding it into the machine and starting the
process once again.

My senses were assaulted with groans
and cheers from the people that surrounded me, throwing their money
away at hopes for a better life and in a way I wished them well.
The smell of old food and cigarettes wafted by me and somewhere
behind it, I recognized the smell of excitement in the air. A
waitress walked past me with a tray balanced carefully on her
shoulder, a hint of perfume trailed lightly behind her as I watched
her place a fresh drink in front of a distracted young
man.

It was strange how everything came at
me all at once and yet somehow I could separate one sense from the
other with almost no effort at all. It would take some time before
I became used to it but somehow it was nice not to miss even the
slightest of details as I went about my day.

I heard her swear under her breath
again and a chuckle passed my lips. It was so strange to hear such
harsh words coming from her but it felt nice to finally know who
she was at her core. I could hear the servers around me making
small talk with the patrons at the bar, a dealer laughed at a
rather bad joke from a man who smelt of whiskey. Having enough of
my silent intrusion, I strolled over to where Cordillia sat pulling
the arm and cursing when she didn’t win.

“
Any luck?” I grinned as I
leaned against the bright red machine. She just grunted at me as
the pictures rolled into place. “So that’s a no then?”

“
Dammit!” She cut me off
as she slid another coin in. I was beginning to wonder when she
would give up and stop putting herself through this but as it turns
out patience really does pay off. The machine began to chime and
flash, I had to step back a few feet for fear of losing an ear drum
to the deafening victory bells.

Cordillia jumped and squealed
excitedly as a small man in a gray suit walked over to her and
handed her a white feather tied to a red ribbon. “Congratulations.”
He smiled at her before moving to the side and allowing me to walk
past him. I looked over at the machine, I wanted to see what the
commotion was all about but Cordillia jumped at me before I got a
good look.

“
I won, Ethan!” She
squealed as she hugged me. The machine finally stopped chiming and
I was honestly relived. I was pretty sure that I would have smashed
the large read screaming box if I had to take another moment of
that and that wasn’t exactly conductive to staying hidden. I
squeezed her back and smiled as she pulled back to look at
me.

“
How much did you win,
kiddo?” She rolled her eyes and gave me her best I’m not a kid look
but it didn’t last long. She looked over the machine again and
grabbed a piece of paper from the slot near the bottom.

“
Three-hundred,” she read
off the ticket to me. “Isn’t that great?” She grinned. I turned to
the small man and smirked.

“
All that commotion for
three-hundred dollars?” I asked. He shrugged lightly and nodded his
head.

“
That’s the jackpot for
this machine.” I nodded and turned back to my sister. I could tell
by the way she was shaking and smiling that she was having a hard
time holding in her excitement.